News

Days after the Conference Board recorded a downturn in consumer confidence, the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters put out their own index, which suggested just the opposite. Surveys of Consumers’ Index of Consumer Sentiment picked up to 81.6 in February, a 0.5 percent month-over-month improvement and a gain of 5.2 percent year-over-year.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the appointment of Egbert L. J. Perry as chair of Fannie Mae’s board of directors. Perry will replace the outgoing Philip A. Laskawy, who will step down at the end of March.

Think home inventory will see a big boost as owners gear up for the spring shopping season? Survey results from Redfin suggest otherwise. In a poll of more than 1,900 homebuyers across 22 major metro areas, the online broker found 39 percent of homeowners have plans to rent out their existing home after buying a new place—limiting the number of supply coming to the market.

Outstanding home finance balances increased for the third straight month in January, signaling what might be the start of a long-term resurgence in borrowing, Equifax reported in its most recent National Consumer Credit Trends release. “American consumers have shed more than $1.5 trillion in mortgage debt since the start of the financial crisis and only now seem interested in investing in housing again,” said Amy Crews Cutts, chief economist.

The government’s latest report shows spending on all construction projects was up 0.1 percent from December, coming to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $943.1 billion. That figure is 9.3 percent ahead of January 2013’s estimate of $863.1 billion. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.5 percent decline in spending to follow December’s originally reported 0.1 percent improvement.

Three special servicers—Nationstar, Ocwen, and Walter Investment Corp.—released their fourth-quarter and year-end earnings reports with revenue increases and increasingly active originations sectors. At least one group of analysts suggests special servicers might “become the next generation of non-prime originators,” according to a report earlier this year from Moody’s.

In the second of three planned reports, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) put gross domestic product (GDP) growth at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in Q4 2013, down from its initial estimate of 3.2 percent in January and its final report of 4.1 percent in the third-quarter. Full-year growth is estimated at 1.9 percent compared to 2.8 percent in 2012.

Fannie Mae released its latest economic forecast, which acknowledged that atypically harsh winter weather in much of the United States has slowed new home construction and sales in Q1 2014. But the report also reaffirms Fannie Mae's position that the economy and housing markets will improve on 2013 growth by the end of the year's fourth quarter.

Despite declines in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey throughout the month, national data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) shows mortgage rates about a tenth of a percent from December to January. Based on a collection of data from a small monthly survey of lenders, FHFA reports the contract rate for the composite of all mortgage loans closed in January was 4.36 percent, up 11 basis points from December.

The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, edged up 0.1 percent to an even 95 last month as regional gains and declines offset each other. While it was hardly a banner report, January’s gain at least turned around the prior month’s originally reported 8.7 percent decline to 92.4, the lowest reading since November 2011.